1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless local area network (LAN), and more particularly, to a wireless communication apparatus that transmits information within a group that is identified using identification data (ID).
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, wireless LANs using radio or infrared light have been developed. In wireless data transmission conforming to the IEEE 802.11 standard, when receiving a wireless communication frame, a wireless communication apparatus selects a frame necessary for wireless communication and receives thus selected frame. Of ID for use in selecting a frame, there is group identification ID (referred to as group ID, hereinafter) used to identify a group. In a wireless communication system, so as to normally transmit and receive a frame, group ID of a group has to be correctly set up in a wireless communication apparatus, to which group the wireless communication apparatus belongs.
As methods to set up group ID, conventionally, there have been proposed two methods. One of the methods is, in a wireless communication apparatus having a character input unit such as a keyboard, to set up group ID in the wireless communication apparatus using the character input unit (see, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-238238). The other is to set up group ID in a wireless communication apparatus in advance when shipping the wireless communication apparatus from a plant.
In case of setting up group ID in a plurality of wireless communication apparatuses using a personal computer provided with a keyboard etc., arbitrary group ID can be set up or changed accordingly. However, it is troublesome to set up group ID using a keyboard, and there is a fear that group ID is incorrectly set up. Furthermore, in the method of setting up group ID using a character input unit such as a keyboard, in case a wireless communication apparatus is not provided with a character input unit, a character input unit has to be additionally coupled to the wireless communication apparatus, which undesirably requires hardware cost. Moreover, in the case of the Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-238238, identification numbers of communication partners have to be known beforehand.
In case of setting up group ID in wireless communication apparatuses in advance when shipping the wireless communication apparatuses, there is no fear that group ID is incorrectly set up. However, since an arbitrary group cannot be set up using previously set up group ID, the user cannot perform wireless communication with other various wireless communication apparatuses, and it is difficult to change or reconstruct the wireless communication system.
Furthermore, there is being developed an apparatus that sets up a group identification code in wireless communication units coupled to a plurality of computers respectively (see, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 11-8625). This apparatus generates a group identification code using a manufacture's serial number, etc., in a wireless communication unit, and transmits thus generated group identification code to another wireless communication unit connected thereto by cable, wireless or optical communication to set up a common group identification code between both wireless communication units. However, this apparatus has to generate a group identification code in a wireless communication unit, and there is a fear that the same group identification code as an existing group identification code is accidentally generated.